Located at the intersection Margaret Street and Hodson Place, the tower dates back to the late 1850s and was built by Liverpool’s first water engineer, Thomas Duncan. Tony McDonough reports

A mystery buyer has paid £71,000 for the Victorian Everton Water Tower – one of Liverpool’s most striking landmarks.

Located at the intersection Margaret Street and Hodson Place, the tower dates back to the late 1850s and was built by Liverpool’s first water engineer, Thomas Duncan, as part of Victorian improvements to public health and sanitation.

Stood at the top of Everton Brow, the structure is visible from some distance away and the property also includes an electricity substation which has rights across the site.

The building went under the hammer at auction in Manchester without a reserve price and was sold for £71,000. Auctioneer Pugh says it does not reveal the identity of buyers so, for the moment, their identity and their plans, remain under wraps.

Prior to the auction Pugh managing director Paul Thompson said: “This is a unique building and one that is an important part of Victorian Liverpool. It will be fantastic if it can be given a new lease of life and, not surprisingly, we have had high levels of interest.”

Pugh generated strong results at its first property auction of 2019 in Manchester and Leeds last week, with more than £14m of sales and 73% of the listed properties sold.

Mr Thompson said: “Despite the continuing uncertainty in the wider property market we were really pleased to see such strong demand for the lots going under the hammer in our packed February auction rooms.

“We also had a record number of former banks in our catalogue and we achieved a 100% success rate with these properties.” 

Pugh also launched an online auction capability last month, achieving a 100% success rate at its first sale. The firm’s next online auction, which closes on March 14, features two parcels of land being auctioned on behalf of the Government’s housing accelerator, Homes England.